Bee Roots for 2026-07-04

The table provides clues for the roots of words in today's NY Times Spelling Bee. You're responsible for prefixes, suffixes, tense changes, plurals, doubling consonants before suffixes, and alternate spellings of roots. An exception: since Sam won't allow S, when the root contains an S, the clue may be for a plural or suffixed form. "Mice" for example. If a clue isn't self-explanatory, try googling it. And if AI tries to be too helpful, try prefixing your search with "word for" or "word meaning". The TL;DR about the site comes after the table.

Past clues are available here

 
Today's puzzle
  • Letters: B/AEHILT
  • Words: 64
  • Points: 303
  • Pangrams: 3
Source: Dick's Sporting Goods

Table content

answers coveredanswer's first letteranswer's lengthclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
1A5Become less intense (the storm suddenly …d)
1A4Help commit a crime
1A6Remove (body tissue) surgically, verb
1A4Having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something, adj. (She was … to walk at 14 months), negated noun form is a pangram
1A6Even though, conjunction (he made steady, … slow, progress)
1A5Criminal’s excuse
1B4Rum sponge cake, or Ali & his 40 thieves
1B6Talk rapidly in a foolish or excited way (like an infant); homophone of Genesis “Tower of …,” verb
1B4Infant, slugger Ruth, or pig film
1B5Genesis “Tower of …,” noun
1B4Thai $
1B4Fee to avoid prison, noun; scoop water out of a ship, or abandon, verb
1B4(Put a) worm on a fishing hook; verb/noun
1B4Parcel of hay, noun/verb, or actor Christian
1B4Where Cinderella lost her slipper, noun; or squeeze or form into a spherical shape, verb/noun
1B6Artistic dance form (“Swan Lake,” e.g.), adj. form is a pangram
1B4(Of a hawk) flap wings to escape, homophone of worm on a fish hook
2B4,5Shower alternative
1B6Sustained fight between armed forces (… of the Bulge), noun/verb
2B4,8Stir or strike vigorously, or trounce in a contest
1B4Borscht veg
1B6VW compact car, or winged insect (scarab, e.g.)
1B4It rings
1B5Southern pretty ♀ (Scarlett O'Hara, e.g.)
1B4It holds your pants up
1B42nd Greek letter, ß
1B5Nut that Bloody Mary chews in “South Pacific”; AKA areca nut
1B9Someone who competes in an event that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, pangram
1B5Holy book (starts with Genesis)
1B4Liver secretion, or anger
2B4,8Invoice, or actor Murray, noun/verb
1B6Temp soldier lodging
1B4Use teeth to cut into food (take a … out of the apple)
1B4Reveal a secret by indiscreet talk
1B4Dull, informal adj. or exclamation
1B4Make a sound like a sheep, goat, or calf; slang
1B5More common term for wavering cry
1B6Indifferent, or lighthearted (Noël Coward's "...Spirit") (-LY form is a pangram)
1B8Latin for lips, or lips of vagina
1B5Be in a horizontal resting position, or say something false
1B8Small (Stuart or Chicken …), adj.
1H5Nun’s garment, or tendency (chewing your nails is a bad …), adj. form is a pangram
1H9Suitable to live in, pangram adj., noun form is also a pangram
1H7Natural environment for animal or plant, Pres. Carter’s “… for Humanity”
1H8Dislike intensely, verb/noun
1H8Recover from injury
1H8Warm up in the oven, verb; or extreme warmth, noun, adv. form is a pangram
1H8Strike with a hand, tool, or weapon, verb/noun, adj. form is a pangram; or a popular song or movie
1L5Tag or sticky paper with info (Avery mailing …)
2L5,6Latin for lips, or lips of vagina
1L6Easily and frequently altered; unstable
1L6Responsible by law/legally answerable; likely to do something (he's … to get upset)
2L5,7Printed slander, noun
1T5Indian small drum pair; NOT dining room furniture
1T5A piece of furniture with a flat top & legs (kitchen, dining room, coffee…)
1T6Flat slab with writing (the 10 commandments?), medicine pill, or portable touchscreen computer (iPad, Kindle Fire)
3T5,6,6Shin bone

About this site

This site provides clues for a day's New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle. It follows in Kevin Davis' footsteps. The original set of 4,500 clues came from him, and they still make up about three quarters of the current clue set.

The "Bee Roots" approach is to provide explicit clues for root words, not every word. As logophiles, we are pretty good at putting on prefixes and suffixes, changing tense, and forming plurals (including Latin plurals!). The clues cover root words, arranged alphabetically by root word, with a count of words in the puzzle that come from each root. For example, if a puzzle includes ROAM and ROAMING, there will be a clue for ROAM and a count of 2. The root may not appear in the puzzle at all; for example, the 2021-07-23 Bee included ICED, DEICE, and DEICED. For such a puzzle, the clue would be for ICE with a word count of 3.

The Bee Roots approach involves judgement sometimes. For example, if a puzzle includes LOVE, LOVED, and LOVELY, how many roots are needed to cover them? LOVE and LOVED share the root LOVE, certainly, but LOVELY is tricky. LOVE is part of its etymology, but by now, the word means "exquisitely beautiful," which is a lot farther from the meaning of LOVE than swithcing to past tense. I'm inclined to treat LOVE and LOVELY as separate roots. You may not agree, which is fine. Another thing we logophiles share is a LOVE of arguing about words on social media.

A few words can have one meaning as a suffixed form and another as a stand-alone word. EVENING, for example. In those cases I will use the meaning that I think is more common.

One last complication, until another one pops up: a few roots have multiple spellings, for example LOLLYGAG and LALLYGAG. Depending on the day's letters, and maybe even the editor's whims, one or both could be in the puzzle's answer list. With such roots, you could see a word count of 2, even if there are no applicable prefixes or suffixes.

I will do my best to keep this site up to date and helpful (I hope). Check it out, and tweet feedback to @donswartwout Tweet to @donswartwout